I’m making pineapple pulled pork tacos tomorrow night. I was sort of half committed to the idea and was going to just use pork chops to make them, but Jon insists that he doesn’t like pork chops in the crock pot (seriously- all shredded pork is the same!), so I asked Jon to run to Kroger and pick up a pork tenderloin because Whole Foods didn’t have any. So he went to a butcher shop and spent $17 on pork! And it’s like, a slab of tenderloin! I have a feeling we’ll be eating pork tacos for like, the next 10 days.

I’m also going to attempt to make my own whipped cream. You know that dish with pineapple, whipped cream, cottage cheese, and the Jello mix? I love it. I made it for Thanksgiving last year and nobody ate it and I ate the entire bowl by myself over the next two days. Anyway, I try not to consume carrageenan, so I’m making my own whipped cream. I think you just literally whisk it with a hand mixer and that’s it. We’ll see how it goes.

I finally made it to CrossFit today! I skipped it every day last week except for Monday. I could have gone two of the nights but they WODs looked awful and I was feeling way too lazy both days. So, maybe this week will be better. And then I went to the daycare in my booty short spandex and felt so inappropriate. I can’t believe there once was a time when I would just run errands and go out to eat in my spandex after the gym. #imamomnowcantdothatanymore

Jon and I have been watching cooking shows nonstop lately (not true- we also watch House Hunters) and the other night, they had scallops on there. I cracked up at this conversation.

Me: Those are sea creatures, right?
Jon: (Looked at me like I’m dumb.) Yes.
Me: I always thought they were potatoes.
Jon: Yes, tiny little disc potatoes.
Me: I thought you said they were sea creatures!
Jon: (Laughs at me.)
Me: Oh, they ARE sea creatures!

I also told Jon he could name our new kitten, but he delayed. So I said I’d name him Simba and then we called him Simba for like, four days. And then he decided too late in the game that he actually did want to name the kitten Rascal. So we had this conversation:

Me: You can’t name him Rascal now! I already introduced him as Simba!
Jon: Introduced him to who?
Me: …….Instaaaagraaaaam.
Jon: Oh my god…

We’ve had some good laughs lately. Mostly at my expense.

Laura and I got together on Saturday afternoon to book our flights to Tahoe/Yosemite this fall! We finally decided upon it. Delta jumped on this stupid bandwagon of charging extra for “Main Cabin” tickets, meaning you get to pick your seat ahead of time. For $40. Dumb. Delta irritates me. I would fly somebody else except they have SkyMiles and fly pretty much every internationally out of Atlanta. We’re going for 10 days and it’ll be my longest time away from Jackson ever! I’m not really nervous about that, but I hate the thought of him in daycare for 6 LONG days in a row! I hope Jon will be able to get out of work early! I’m pretty excited about our trip! We have lodging in Tahoe, so we just need to book it in Yosemite and then rent a car. I really wish we could have road tripped, but there really isn’t time to make it out there and back! I want to go to White Sands SO BAD but I guess we’ll do it another time!

I worked on Sunday! It was a pretty easy day! Jon brought Jackson for lunch but he was a fussy pants and unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out that well for me to go so we had a rushed lunch (he ate before I got to leave for my break). Then we were going to hang out last night so I asked him to come home from my parents before dinner but he took a nap and then I asked him to help clean up and he was like, “Ugh, I’m never coming home to hang out again.” Help clean up, dude. Get over it.

Alrighty, well I’m gross from the gym. I need to get in the shower and pump and clean up this disastrous house before Jackson wakes up from his nap. I’m making tomorrow my cooking/cleaning/pool day while Jackson is in daycare!

I’m so lazy. I paid $130 for the gym and I can’t make myself go. Actually, I was planning on going tonight until I looked at how many times I’d have to jump rope tonight. Like, 1000 times (that is sadly not an exaggeration). These breastfeeding boobs are not about to bounce up and down that many times. It’s just not happening. And last night, Jon got home too late to go. I probably could have gone, except he had a phone call when he got home and he couldn’t take care of Jackson until it was too late. So… One day, I’ll get my shit together and get these muscles back.

Sometimes Jon tells me I look at him like he’s stupid and I’m always like, “No no, I don’t think you’re stupid!” But he’s talking to his friend who wants to transfer schools and about college and the things he says it’s like, “No no, you’re kind of stupid.” That’s mean. I don’t actually think Jon is stupid. I actually think Jon is way smarter than I am. But sometimes, I have no idea where he comes up with these statements (“I don’t care who you are! Biology is hard for anybody!”- Except for me. Who made As in both of my biology classes and yeah, I studied for them, but it definitely wasn’t a hard class.) And then I’m like, maybe I am kind of judgmental.

Do you ever meet those people who are so genuinely nice that it just amazes you? People who invite you over with their arms open and fridge stocked and give up their own bed for you?! I so wish I was one of those people, but I’m not. I actually have a kind of hard time having people in my space. By “a kind of hard time,” I probably really mean “a really hard time.” I am just sort of set in my ways. I like it quiet and dark to sleep. I like my door cracked so the cats can get in to pee. I like to eat all the food I prepare. I don’t even really want to share my bed with my own husband, so I definitely don’t want to share it with anybody else. And it really irritates the shit out of me when I want to watch something on TV and people try to talk through it! Like, can I have my 42 minutes of trash without you talking, please?! Jon used to tell me that I don’t like to be uncomfortable and I would deny it so hard, but you know what? I’m 30 now. I don’t have time for that. He’s right. I don’t like to be uncomfortable. I don’t want you eating my food or talking during my show or sitting in my spot on the couch. I don’t even like listening to the TV as background noise so I ask Jon to wear headphones to watch TV so he doesn’t disturb me. So really, I’m just not that nice of a person. I mean, I am nice, but I probably don’t really want to go out of my way for somebody else unless it’s my idea. I feel like those aren’t good qualities to have so I never wanted to admit that I actually have those faults, but I think I’ve finally realized that although I won’t ever be 100% open and inviting to everybody, I still have other great qualities! (I just have to figure out what they are. Haha. I’m kidding.)

That was totally random and I have no idea where it came from. Probably from Jon’s stupid conversation.

Anyway, I had to work today and I’m working tomorrow for somebody. I got my butt kicked at work today but 6 hours is a pretty quick shift. It wasn’t too terrible. Except I didn’t eat lunch and then my blood sugar was dropping when I finally got Jackson home and of course he pooped even though they had just changed him at daycare, and then when I took his diaper off he peed on himself for the second time today. Know how many diapers I changed today? 2. He peed on himself 100% of the times I changed his diaper today (I know it’s still only 2, but he really only does that at the most inopportune times, like when I need to leave for work or I’m having sweats and shakes from hypoglycemia).

But Jon brought me flowers and a sweet card! We’ve kind of been annoying each other lately. I never think he likes spending time with me and he thinks I nag too much so he doesn’t actually like spending time with me, and then it’s a big cycle and we just kind of live with each other and parent Jackson and get irritated by the other person. So, hopefully we’ll like each other better after today.

I’m so exhausted. I should go relax or clean the house since I work again tomorrow and I’m not even going to the gym. So, yeah, I definitely need to either be productive or be lazy. I just haven’t decided which one. I think I’ll just hang out with Simba (that’s what I named our kitten even though Jon doesn’t like it).

Hey-o! Happy Monday! I have had a lot going on lately! Gina’s wedding was this weekend and it was SO MUCH FUN! For those of you who don’t know (probably most of you), Gina and I have been friends for 15 years now. I met her when I was 15, but we really became good friends during our junior year in high school. We lived together our first semester of college and then I transferred, but we literally spent every weekend having sleepovers for like, four years straight. I was obviously excited to be in her wedding as co-Matrons of Honor with Kassie!

Friday evening was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was so quick! We went to an Irish Pub for dinner! Jon made it just on time! My parents agreed to watch Jackson all weekend long, thankfully, so Jon was able to join us for dinner. Him and the husbands (Gina’s husband and Kassie’s husband) formed the Wolfpack recently, so they’re like bests now, basically. I had broccoli and brie stuffed chicken for dinner and holy cow, it was so incredibly delicious! I was so glad too because I was really wishing I ordered everything but that. We left around 9pm because I was sick and super exhausted and we were also getting our new kitten on Friday night!

Our kitten was adopted out of Missouri (I think). I actually was hooked up with the little guy via Instagram. He was rescued from a kill shelter and was due to be euthanized, so he was pulled by a rescue group. He was delivered by a rescue transport person. He’s about 7-8 weeks (8 on his paperwork, but I have a feeling that isn’t accurate- my vet said he’s closer to 7 weeks in weight). We barely got to spend time with him this past weekend, but I’m happy to say that this kitten is super well socialized and a very happy, very needy kitten! He is a purr machine and meows nonstop. Very Tom of him! He loves to puff up and try to show Kitty who’s boss.

Saturday was the day of Gina’s wedding! I was feeling really tired and not too great Saturday morning, so after pumping, I headed right back to bed. I woke up in time to throw everything together and then Jon and I headed out so he could drop me off at the W (the hotel where we were getting ready). We picked up Kassie and grabbed some coffee and started our day!

I really love wedding days! It was just Kassie, Gina, Hannah (the other bridesmaid, who will be Gina’s sister-in-law shortly), and Gina’s mom. It’s so fun drinking mimosas and getting ready together! Gina looked amazing! Her hairdresser and makeup artist did a fantastic job with her (she’s pretty anyway!). We had to head to the venue at 2:30 for pictures.

The wedding ended up being super chill. Gina’s mom planned most of it and they had a wedding coordinator, so this was one of the easiest weddings I’ve been involved with! We basically showed up, drank mimosas, and that was it! The weather was also absolutely amazing for the middle of June! It had rained Friday afternoon (before the rehearsal, magically) and that cooled everything down. It was cloudy and so cool out! I almost needed a jacket at night! The ceremony was so short and to the point, which really, everybody appreciates when it comes to weddings! And then it was time to celebrate! The food was SO good! There was a taco bar, a Southern bar, and then chicken/beef. The cake was Nothing Bundt Cakes. SO so so delicious. There was a photo booth there and it was so much fun! I need to take some pictures of that and upload them! We danced like crazy and Jon even split his pants! Gina’s mom told me how much she loved watching Jon dance all night, haha. He loves tearing up the dance floor! And really, it was hilarious that Jon split his pants! I’m pretty sure my favorite quote of the night was when I said to Kassie, “I’ve had 2 cupcakes already!” and she said, “I’ve had 8 gin and tonics!” Hahahaha. I have some good photos on my camera, but I haven’t uploaded them, so here are a few I downloaded from Gina’s mom!

After the reception, we headed over to the W for a little after party. It was SO packed! We stayed until about 1:30 or so and then headed home.

I went to bed at 3 since I had to do one last pump and I wanted to spend some time with the kitten since we’d been gone all day and he has to stay in the bathroom when we’re gone!

Sunday morning, I slept until 9:30! Pretty late for us! We got ready and then Jon and I went and grabbed breakfast together at J. Christopher’s before going to my mom and dad’s to get Jackson. He was super fussy by the time we got there since he hadn’t napped all morning really, so I cuddled him and put him down and spent the afternoon chatting on the patio with my mom! We ended up staying there for dinner, and then we came home and I cleaned up the house and read my book. We hung out briefly and “celebrated” Father’s Day. I think Jon was disappointed by my lack of planning and celebrating, but it was a busy weekend! I did make him a Shutterfly book of Jackson’s birth, but I gave it to him two weeks ago because I was too excited, haha.

This morning was vet day for the Kitten! I took him to see Dr. Lobeck (one of the vets who took care of Tom!). Dr. Lobeck said he was excited to see my name on the schedule with a new kitten! The kitten (currently unnamed- I would like to name him Mr. Waffles and Jon wants to name him Buddy, but I call Jackson “Buddy” so I don’t want to name him that!) looks healthy! No fleas or parasites! Possible ear mites but Dr. Lobeck said it didn’t even look like he has ear mites. He’s due back in two weeks for more shots!

I threw on my gym clothes after the vet and headed out to CrossFit. I’ll be honest- I really wanted to take a nap. Like, really bad. But I am trying to work out more so I went to the gym. I’m still scaling a ton, but I managed to do 80 sit ups total, so my ab strength is definitely improving! It was a struggle a month ago to do 20 sit ups! And really, I don’t care about scaling. It’s kind of nice to not go all out at the gym. I still get in a good workout without being all crazy! And I think Jon may even start coming to CrossFit too! He was asking me to check with Steve (owner) about pricing for couples and said he thinks he’d like to get back into it. So, I really hope he’ll come because he doesn’t tend to be very active and I think living a long, healthy life is obviously important!

After the gym, I hit up the grocery store and then went and picked up Jackson. He’s taking a nap now and I’m hoping Jon will be home soon! Jon actually went to my mom and dad’s to use their garage so he could wax his car or something. I think we’re going to make chicken for dinner and I’ll probably clean up the house some more (seriously, how does the house need to be cleaned every single day?!?!).

I’m on call tomorrow from 11-3. I actually hope I get called in since I could use 1.5x pay… I’m working 9-3 on Thursday and I just picked up for a coworker from 9-3 on Friday. (Let’s be real- I need to work some more hours so I can at least cover the cost of daycare!) Wednesdays are going to be my days to keep Jackson home from daycare, so maybe I’ll see if my other mom friend, Lisa, wants to get together for lunch on Wednesday! Oh, and I talked to the new manager at my PCU job (the “new” job). I basically said it was too many weekends to work there and she asked how I’d feel about working 1 Sunday a month and 3 weekdays and told me to discuss it with my family and get back to her this week. But I’ll probably quit. I am considering her offer, because I actually do kind of like that job, but I just don’t know that I want to work a 12 hour shift every week. And I know it’ll only be more difficult once school starts back up. So, I know the best choice for our family is to just quit that job instead of trying to juggle two jobs. After all, I technically don’t even have to be working right now and I have turned into one of those moms who doesn’t want to work full time with a little baby at home! I miss him too much!

Hey guys! It doesn’t feel like Tuesday today! I took Jackson to daycare first thing this morning which I haven’t done yet. We normally do his first nap at home and take him around 10:45, but I have to start working at 9am once a week now, so I wanted him to get used to an “early” morning drop-off. So I’ve been all on my own this morning! It’s kind of strange! I planned on waking up to go to the gym (at 5:30, ahhh) but then decided my legs are way too sore. I thought about picking up at work (still a few hours short- so I need to pick up to actually cover the cost of daycare!) and then I decided not to. And then I decided to go get coffee at a coffee shop, since it’s been awhile since I’ve done that. However, what I actually did with my morning was come home, immediately lay on the couch, and sleep for two hours. It was fantastic. I hardly ever nap (despite my many plans to nap- it just never happens) and I think I could have napped the entire day away! But, boobs.

I went back to CrossFit yesterday! I am joining CrossFit Chamblee. I sort of forgot that I had planned on doing MissFits for a month since it’s only $55 a month and is at 10am, which is convenient. So scratch that plan. We did some cleans, snatches, and then we did 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 of OHS. I ended up having too much back pain to do OHS, so I did front squats (after making it through 2 rounds of trying to make it to 21 with OHS, so I ended up doing 30 extra squats before starting that). I only used 35# and today I am SO SO SO sore. Holy cow. It’s also super obvious how weak my core is. We did pull ups at the beginning and I can actually feel how little strength I have. It feels like my c-section scar is pulling a little too sometimes, but it’s not painful. Just kind of there. It feels good to be back though. I’m excited about being back at CF, but I wish the hours there were more flexible. They have 6am and 7am classes, which would be fine once I wean, but right now, I have to pump before going to the gym. (Don’t get me started on pumping right now. My right boob is not emptying well and getting constant clogs and I’m actually thinking I may need to quit pumping because I think the boob is going to stop responding the pump entirely soon.) And there are only noon classes on MWF, which means on T/TH, I need to figure out something else (may use LA Fitness again).

Jon and I went to the store last night and I was wearing Jackson. I decided to look at the electrolytes in SmartWater since I’m working out now and breastfeeding. They’re just added for taste so I decided it wasn’t worth the money and went to put it back on the top shelf. I dropped the entire liter bottle on Jackson’s head! The cap hit him square in the forehead! I felt awful! I started crying (obviously, I cry all the time now) and he was hysterical! Thankfully, he calmed down in less than a minute and was totally fine, but I felt so bad! The water also fell from his head and onto the floor and busted all over the place. And Jackson has already spit up all over the floor. We were a mess. I’m sure I’ll do much worse in the future, but this was the first time that I’ve bee the one to hurt him!

I also had an appointment with the chiropractor yesterday and was so excited about getting a massage there! It was so disappointing! It was free technically, but the lady (who talked like, 1/2 the time) asked how the pressure was and I said it needed to be harder. I could barely tell she was pushing harder. It was so light. I need a deep tissue massage. These back muscles need some serious massaging! I wish Jon had the stamina to massage me for long periods of time because his back massages are amazing. I rarely enjoy a massage as much as I enjoy his. I was really hoping this lady would at least be decent, but it was underwhelming.

Gina is getting married this weekend! Woohoo! I actually can’t believe there is a wedding this weekend! It is incredibly hot so I have a feeling her actual ceremony may be a little toasty, but I’m excited about it! We’re all getting together tonight to work on some wedding crafts and then Friday night is the rehearsal and dinner. I’m hoping Jon can make it, but it’ll be a bit of a pain in the ass because he’ll have to juggle getting Jackson up to my mom and dad’s house for the weekend and then get all the way back downtown during Friday rush hour. I’ll be headed downtown again early on Saturday to get ready with Gina and then her wedding is at night! Crista will be married in October and then whenever Laura and Doug get engaged, all of my friends will be married! (I only have like, 5 friends though, so there aren’t that many, haha.)

I need to go shower and pump and then go get Jackson. I’m sure he’ll be exhausted since he didn’t get any naps at home today.

This may be boring for my readers without kids, but I haven’t ever done a “Day in the Life” or strictly baby updates because that’s not really my style. But since I will be looking back at my blog eventually, it could be fun!

Jackson was 15 weeks old day.

We have been following Babywise (BW) from the start, although, with his recent daycare adventures, we’ve gotten out of that a little bit. But we have always stressed eat, wake, sleep (immediately from waking from his nap, he eats, then has wake time, and then he sleeps.

A day now goes like this:

6:30-7am: Wake up and eat (he eats 5oz bottles of breastmilk). I’m going to assume he woke up at 6:30 today. I feed him on the couch, wash his butt in the sink (he loves this part!), get him dressed, and give him some tummy time. He’s always super happy in the morning and is all smiles and squeals.

7:30am: Down for a nap. Because we were strict from the start with BW, we have a good napper on our hands and we don’t use sleep props. No pacifier, no swaddle anymore, no noise. We just close his blinds and walk out. During this time, I pump, make breakfast, clean up, sometimes shower… (On daycare days, this is when I get ready and prep his stuff for daycare and typically I pump again).

9:30am: Wakes up from his nap, has another bottle and diaper change, and then we do more tummy time. This is typically when I would run errands with him, but now, this is when I drop him off at daycare. I try to get out of the house right after his diaper change so we end up at daycare around 10:45. If he isn’t at daycare though…

10:45: Nap time again. (He gets 60 minutes of wake time in the morning, 75-90 for the next two EWS cycles). This is when I would get stuff done around the house if we’re at home (wash bottles!), or we would be running errands. If he’s at daycare, I tend to do some errands, pumping, showering, pool, whatever!

12:30-12:45ish: He’s up again for a bottle and diaper change. We hang out again for awhile. If we had run an errand together, I would do a short wake time here (because he doesn’t nap much if we’re out) and he’d be down for a nap soon after this. Assuming we were home, then he would be up with me around the house, doing tummy time again…

1:45: Nap again.

3:30ish: Up again for bottle, diaper change, and tummy time (we do this regularly). We also work on him grabbing toys, sitting up, whatever. I talk to him about my day and he squeals and smiles more. This is also when I pick him up from daycare if he’s there. I get there between 3-3:30 almost always. If this was a daycare day (as they are most of the time now), then we come home and I top him off with a bottle (he surprisingly usually wants a whole bottle, even if he ate not long ago- he always has 2 bottles at daycare), put him in a cloth diaper (daycare doesn’t do cloth), and then we cuddle in his room and I put him down for a nap. This is my favorite time of the day. I LOVE picking him up from daycare and bringing him home to cuddle with me!

Our evenings are always different. If he was at daycare, then he sleeps from about 4-6:15pm because he doesn’t sleep much at daycare. He had a 40 minute nap today and he did two 30 minute naps before while at daycare. If he has been home with me for the day and his naps are on schedule, then he naps from about 4:45-6:00.

Once he’s up at 6ish, he’s up till bedtime. We feed him when he wakes up at 6. If he’s really tired, I’ll try to take him on a walk or take him on an errand where I wear him so he can get in a little cat nap. He just needs 15 minutes to recharge until bedtime. This is also when he does bath time (I don’t do baths- Jon does them!) and I tend to clean up the house around this time. Jon and I usually eat something for dinner. Jackson gets into his PJs, his night cloth (we add an extra insert), and gets his final bottle and is in bed by 8:30. Since I’m having to wake him up every morning though, even if I let him sleep until 7am, we just moved bedtime up to 8:15. Although, tonight he was extra tired and slept through his last feed, which started at 7:55.

Most Babywise babies sleep a full 12 hours. Since I want him up around 6:30am for his usual daytime activities, I really don’t want him doing 12 hours at night. I would LOVE if we could have him get up at 8am, but consistency works for babies and because he has to get up so early on workdays, 6:30 is just easier to stick with. If we do 12 hours at night, he’d be going to bed at 6:30 and I can’t handle that! I want Jon and I to be able to enjoy him  in the evenings! But I have a feeling our bedtime will probably get earlier over the next month or so (and then they start dropping a nap), so he’ll probably be sleeping from 7:30pm-6:30am.

My work days vary in the mornings depending on when I work. Jon will take him to daycare if I work at 7. I will take him when I work at 9, and I take him if I work at 11. I try to get a morning nap in at home if I work at 11, but when I work at 9, I’ll have to get ready and pump before 6:45 and get him up and changed so I can drop him off at daycare before work.

I can’t give Babywise enough praise for giving us this sleeper! Even though I’m not strict BW, I learned such valuable lessons about how to put babies to sleep and about proper wake times for babies based on their age! We were struggling more with getting him down for naps in the early days because I kept him up too long and he would get overtired and fight sleep. Now, we don’t have that problem. Even when he is overtired, he is so great at self soothing that he still puts himself to sleep like a champ no matter what (unless we’re somewhere else- then sometimes naps are a little more rough).

The daycare ladies always say what a great baby he is and how he is so happy and just lays there and smiles and babbles. One said the other day, “If Jackson is crying, we know he’s hungry or tired!”

Anyway, I should be getting to bed. It’s almost 11pm and I need to do my last pump (which will take awhile- I’ve accidentally dropped to 5 pumps a day instead of 6, so I’m getting super full lately). Glad tomorrow is Saturday so I have help all morning until Jon leaves for the Braves game!

Happy Friday! WOOHOO! I love weekends now. Unfortunately, my weekends off have come to an end. I’m back to work, which means I’m back at it on Sundays, too. This month I only have to work 12 weekend hours (I’m doing 16 for some reason? Because I’m dumb and don’t take advantage when I should), but in July, it’s back to 24 weekend hours. I know I have a ton of flexibility in my schedule and I am so grateful for such a well paying job that I can basically make fit my own schedule, but it still sucks having to work weekends with a baby at home. Then again, Jon probably feels like that all week when he goes to work and I get to stay home with Jackson.

I have been dying to travel lately. Honestly, if I could go back in time and not have a baby, I probably would. I miss traveling and my freedom more than I thought I would. I thought I’d have a baby and maybe I’d magically be content with being at home, but I’m not. I don’t think a day passes where I don’t wish I could go back to Europe or finally go to Iceland or Machu Picchu or Thailand. I know I set myself up for a successful career and aside from our mortgage and a fairly small car loan, we don’t have any debt, but I wish I had lived a little bit more carefree. I wish I had lived in another country or had been an au pair somewhere exciting. But the Army stopped me and then nursing school stopped me and then I didn’t want to give up my job because I didn’t think I’d get into an ER if I didn’t take that opportunity when it presented itself.

But now that I’ve met my fantastic little guy, I wouldn’t want to give him back . But if I could turn back time, life would probably look a lot different right now. Then again, this face is pretty precious and I definitely love this kid more than I thought I could, and I know that love will only grow! And he squeals now and it is seriously one of the cutest things I’ve heard. He squealed the whole way home from daycare yesterday and I just laughed with him. He’s kind of the best thing ever (after vacation. Kidding. Kind of.).

I worked again yesterday afternoon. Just four hours. Our ER is under renovations so we have all these new positions that we didn’t have before. They put me in one that I didn’t want to work in, but a girl was nice enough to trade with me. But it’s surprising how uncomfortable I am at work now. I had been working in pediatrics before I had Jackson, so I didn’t have to start many IVs, and then I was gone for 3 months. I was really good at IVs before. Like, it was rare that I couldn’t start an IV on somebody and if I couldn’t, we would either have to do an ultrasound guided IV or have somebody put it in their neck. I have no skills now. I seriously feel like I’m starting over learning how to find veins. I feel like such an idiot. I only put one in yesterday but I even felt nervous to do it. Of course, the person was a nurse practitioner and also didn’t have the best veins (although, they would have been no problem for the old me). And since it has been so long since I’ve done a lot of stuff at work (we don’t admit kids in our hospital and we don’t have to use a lot of the programs regularly), I feel like I need a whole orientation again. I hate it. Although I don’t want to work more, I know that working so few hours will only make this worse, because I’m not giving myself enough time to really get back in the groove and I just feel out of place every day at work now. I’m torn between wanting to work and be my old self and at least make some extra money, and just wanting to take life easy and work just enough to pay for daycare.

I feel like I spent my whole day in traffic today. Atlanta traffic sucks. Especially on Fridays. I swear it’s heavy all day long on Friday and rush hour literally starts around 2pm. And there was a car fire today, so it was even worse. I always have to plan my day around picking Jackson up from daycare before traffic gets too bad. I wish I lived in a smaller town sometimes, but then again, living in a big city has its perks (like direct flights).

I told myself that I’ll go back to the gym on Monday! So, I really need to make myself do that. My back pain isn’t any better yet, but I’m seeing the chiropractor and my insurance covers massages through the chiropractor, so I have one scheduled on Monday! My back has a burning pain on the right side now (lower back), along with the pain I get from lifting in my low back, and my upper back is so jacked up from bad posture during pumping/feeding Jackson. I had no dang idea that pregnancy could jack a body up this bad afterwards. I guess that’s what happens when you gain 1/2 your bodyweight in 40 weeks. But, I also am eating horribly and I’m being way too inactive, so I’ll just lift light and suck it up. Besides, it’ll be good for me to get back to the gym. The longer I go without working out, the harder it is to get back into it. And I need to work on these abs. It’s sad how much core strength I’ve lost (which is understandable! I know it’ll come back!).

I did tell myself that I’d cook more, so today I got stuff to make crockpot chicken enchilada things. Not sure why they’re called enchiladas because it’s really kind of like a chicken chili type thing, but whatever. And that’s the laziest I could be about cooking because I literally threw like, seven ingredients in the crock pot and then I got a donut on my way home from Whole Foods, but it’s a start, right? I’m going to put this concoction over lettuce and throw some Wholly Guacamole on it and it’ll be a healthy dinner. I also pinned a few new recipes and really, I’m kind of excited to cook a little bit more. I actually sort of miss it, but Jackson is awake from 5ish-8:15 so it’s hard to prepare dinner sometimes. Once I pick him up from daycare at 3-3:30, I usually need to pump once I get him down for a nap and then it’s almost 5 anyway.

You know what I miss? Leaving the house in 10 minutes. To get to work at 11 the other day, I set my alarm for 6am. No shit. That’s FIVE hours to get us together and coordinate my pumping and Jackson’s morning nap.

Alrighty… Well, I’m off. I should probably be productive instead of sitting on my computer.

Wow, it has been BUSY around here! Jackson is in daycare but that really hasn’t alleviated my schedule much! I’ve only been taking him for about 4-5 hours a day when I’m off. I do his morning stuff, put him down for a nap, feed him, and get him to daycare around 11. He stays until about 3 since that’s when traffic gets heavier heading from my house to daycare. I’m hoping to start increasing his time there since he’ll be going for 8 hours total on Thursdays now, but I feel bad because he hasn’t adjusted to napping there yet so he’s exhausted every time I pick him up! Thankfully, he seems to be pretty happy when I get there, so I am feeling better about that, but I hate dropping him off there. It is so hard leaving him with so many other kids and only two adults, because I know he doesn’t get as much attention. And really, that’s probably a good thing. We don’t need more kids in this world that think the world revolves around them, but it doesn’t make it any easier!

This morning/afternoon, I need to go clean and hopefully make it to the pool for even 30 minutes today because it is beautiful out for June! Breezy, no humidity, and not very hot! But I have bathrooms to clean, maybe floors to clean (probably not), diapers to stuff, recipes to look up, and laundry to do. I need to start cooking again! I have been pretty lazy and am still eating terrible, so I told myself that starting next week, I’ll get it together with cooking. I forgot all the old, easy recipes I used to know, so I need to find some new stuff.

Now for a recap! My sisters both came in town over Memorial Day weekend! My sister, Annie, and nephew, Tank, came from Wisconsin on Wednesday and stayed through Monday. My other sister, Tonie, came in on Friday and left on Monday. I stayed at my parent’s house the entire time with Jackson since I figured it’d be easier than loading up baby stuff and my pump two times a day for that long!

We spent most of the time hanging out around the house and going to the pool a few times. We had dinner out the first night that Annie got in town. Annie and I went out one day at got coffee. I hung out on the porch with my mom. Jackson did lots of sleeping on his aunts and grandma and almost none in his crib! It was so nice to just relax with my family and not have to go anywhere or do anything. It was also nice to have Jackson almost completely taken care of but still be able to see him and spend time with him! I can’t wait until next May, because my oldest sister (Tonie) is moving to Asheville so she will be so much closer!

Last week was my first week back to work. I only worked for 4 hours and it was an extremely slow morning. I barely got back into the groove because it was literally that slow. But it was kind of nice to ease back into it. I have a feeling I’ll be fairly forgetful for awhile. I also had clinic last night (the health clinic that I volunteer at) and it was nice to be back there again too. I went a few weeks ago, but I just sort of feel like I’m getting my own life back a bit! Having some freedom and having Jackson in daycare has really made me happier overall and I definitely cherish my time with him so much more! I love picking him up from daycare and getting baby cuddles!

I went to Gina’s Bachelorette party this past weekend in Chattanooga! I loved Chattanooga! I’ve gone for short periods of time in the past, but it is much cuter than I expected and so much less crazy than Atlanta! There were some awesome bars and some great rooftop patios! We got to relax and it was nice to have some time with just my friends! We did a Brew Choo where you bike around on this trolley thing to different bars and it was tons of fun! I didn’t drink the entire time (aside from 1/2 a shot) so I was the DD. I think I’ve just realized in my old age that I can have a good time without drinking and I get hungover so easily that it just isn’t worth it when I’m supposed to be having a good time! (I still would enjoy drinking for a special occasion when I’m home.) It also kind of makes it more difficult to enjoy drinking when I know I have a baby to take care of the next day. But, despite being totally sober, I had a fantastic weekend. We did go to a bar (Social Circle) that was awesome and had tons of games and outdoor space, but it was definitely a place to meet people! This guy was actually talking to Kassie (she’s married and kept leaning back to avoid him- it was pretty entertaining) and his friend came up and looked at me and said, “Now you! You’re cute! I’d like to know your name!” and then I just stared at him blankly. He asked my name again and all I said was, “Um, I’m married and just had a baby.” He was like, “Ah, okay! Well you’re still really cute!” He looked like he was probably young to mid 20s though, so way too young and also, I just don’t even want to entertain that anymore! There used to be a time where it was still fun to chat with random people and now I just don’t care!

Aside from those two busy weekends and going back to work, not a whole lot has happened. Jon and I had a good, long talk last night about how things are going in our marriage and as parents and it was nice. Surprisingly, we don’t argue much now, but I also don’t feel like there’s tons of time to connect, either. So we just sort of coexist and brush the surface of everything, so it was nice to turn off the TV and hash out some things that have been going on lately.

I am hoping to get back to the gym next week. I had a chiropractor appointment on Monday and have one Friday. I haven’t noticed any difference and plan on still trying PT, but I want to be active again and get back to it, even if I have to lift light. This is my first real week of daycare life (last week I didn’t do a ton) and yesterday Jackson had shots, so I figured I’d give myself one more week to try and get everything in order and get used to the daycare routine. I plan on working every Thursday for 6-8 hours right now (we have a new shift in the ER, 9-3, kind of nice!) and Sundays for 8 hours right now (will go to 12 hours on Sundays in July). Eventually, I hope to up my Thursday to 8 hours, but I need to decrease another pump before I can comfortably do that, so that’ll be my goal for the next month.

Anyway, this is sort of all over the place and not very in depth. I planned on making a longer post about both of the weekends mentioned above, but I haven’t had time. I need to go get the bathrooms cleaned at least since they’ve been driving me crazy, pump, pool, shower, and pick Jackson up from daycare!